Monday, January 31, 2011

Our sincere thanks to the Dallas Observer's Hanna Raskin, for her writeup on our participation in the official Super Bowl media party. Assuming people can get through the snow and sleet to the House of Blues, it should be a great time. I am really looking forward to sampling from the 10 fantastic BBQ joints that are catering it. Out of the 10 joints, whose table would you most look forward to patronizing?

Tomorrow night is the official Super Bowl media party at the House of Blues in Dallas. Brad and I are fortunate enough to be attending, as Man Up Texas BBQ got to pick the 10 Texas BBQ joints that will be catering the 3,000 media members and others in attendance. The 10 joints who will be feeding the masses are as follows (Earl Campbell will also be serving sausage.):

It has taken months of coordinating, but it all came together nicely. Man Up is honored to have played a small part in it, and I can't wait to hang out with all of the joints and EAT!!! I'll be updating all night via Twitter. Our good friend (and, in my opinion, the state's top BBQ critic) Daniel "BBQ Snob" Vaughn will be there, as well, so follow him on Twitter, too.

UPDATE: Due to travel issues, Cooper's & Meyer's will not be attending.

This afternoon, Brad and I head to Dallas for tomorrow night's official Super Bowl media party. MUTB had the honor of selecting the 10 Texas BBQ joints that will be feeding the 3,000 media members in attendance. Should be a great time. Will post party updates via Twitter and will, of course, take lots of pics.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Brad and I had lunch a couple of weekends ago at the Soulman's in his hometown of Mesquite. We weren't too hungry, so we just split a 3-meat plate: brisket, pork ribs, dark chicken, beans, and green beans. I liked that the pork ribs were a bit crispy on the outside (and tore easily from the bone), and the dark chicken wasn't dry (always a major plus for chicken). The brisket was a disappointment. It was extra lean - dry and chewy. Truth be told, the fault was mine, for I didn't ask for outside and/or fatty cuts, and I didn't pay attention to the cutting. It's not fair for me to give the thumbs down to their brisket, generally, when I wasn't specific about what I wanted. The green beans were great - piping hot and tasty.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Texas is full of multiple-location BBQ joints, particularly in the bigger cities. But some are more numerous than others. If you came to an intersection and had to pick just one, would you eat at The County Line, Dickey's, Rudy's, or Spring Creek?

Bright and early this morning, a big group of us (from what I hear) will be heading from Austin to Lexington for a visit to Snow's BBQ, followed by a quick trip down to Giddings for a second meal at City Meat Market. Feel free to join us. Or just get updates via Twitter. I'm sure loads of pics are to come.

Monday, January 24, 2011

After much anticipation, I announce the start of our Super Bowl giveaway from Goode Co. Texas Bar-B-Q (Houston, TX)!!! One lucky winner will receive a free Brisket and BBQ Sauce Sampler ($85 value), comprised of a whole mesquite-smoked BBQ brisket, a loaf of jalapeno-cheese bread, and a selection of three Goode Co. BBQ sauces (Original, Heavy Garlic, and Jalapeno Garlic). They're shipping, folks, so you can enter no matter where you live! The giveaway-entry period will last through the end of Monday, January 31, & it's a piece of cake to enter, so there's no excuse not to enter - unless, of course, you have an aversion to FREE TEXAS BBQ!!!As for entering, we've decided to make this giveaway as easy as possible. Simply do any of the following to get your name in the hat: (1) Email me your name and mailing address. (2) Tweet about the giveaway. Just make sure you include @ManUpTexasBBQ, so that I will see it. Or simply retweet this. (3) Click "Like" or leave a comment underneath the Facebook post announcing the giveaway. Even a comment as simple as "Yes!" will suffice. If you want to leave a glowing comment about Texas BBQ, brisket, or Goode Co. Texas Bar-B-Q, that'll work, too! Entries accepted through Monday, January 31. We'll draw the winning name and announce the winner on Tuesday, February 1. Good luck!

The Brisket and BBQ Sauce Sampler is part of Goode Company's brand-new line of mesquite-smoked Texas barbeque available for customers all over the United States to purchase online. These items ship straight to the customer's door fresh, never frozen. Som regardless of whether we pull your name from the hat, you can purchase any of these mail-order delights anytime you please. As an incentive, every order of smoked meats during the giveaway period (January 24-February 1) will receive a free Goode Company "Thank Your Lucky Stars" Koozie!

I always stop into The County Line every time I'm on the River Walk in San Antonio. My most recent visit was earlier this month before the USAAAB Welcome BBQ at the Alamodome. Much to my surprise and delight, I sat down at the bar and the first thing I saw straight ahead was one our our cards on the cash register. I thought it was definitely picture worthy. Brad's a signage guy, so he snapped a couple of pics of signs outside the restaurant.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Mark your calendars for SATURDAY, AUGUST 27!!! That's the day we will throw the 2nd annual Gettin' Sauced! BBQ sauce contest/festival in Austin. It's late August and will be nice and hot, so we will be sure to have some cold drinks for you! As for venue, we've found one and will announce it soon. Also, sometime in the next 2 or 3 weeks we'll send out the application for contest entrants and vendors.

The major change to this year's format is that the contest is open to sauces from outside of Texas (GASP!). So, if you've got a BBQ restaurant or a commercial line of BBQ sauce(s), bring it. Doesn't matter where you are.

The website is under development, so stay up to date on event info via Facebook & Twitter. (Complete event recaps/pics from the inaugural event here.)

Great news: The 21st Street location of The Sugar Shack BBQ is back up and running, after it was destroyed by fire on December 15. It's on the UT campus, a block East of Guadalupe. The other location is at 24th & San Antonio.

I've been teasing it on Twitter and now give it some face time on the blog. This Monday, I'll be announcing a big giveaway, courtesy of my friends at Goode Co. Texas Bar-B-Q (Houston, TX). I won't accept entries until Monday, January 24 (and I'll accept entries thru 11:59 PM Central the following Monday, January 31), but here's a sneak peek at what's gonna go down. Spread the word, and don't miss your chance to win this fantastic prize that you can enjoy during the Super Bowl. As with all of my giveaways, the only bad thing about this one is that I can't win it!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Tomorrow morning, we'll announce the first of our Best of 2010 awards. And for all you rebels out there who eat your dessert before your entree, the first category is in your honor: Best Desserts. Before we announce our favorite, what's yours? Of all the BBQ joints/caterers in Texas, who has the best desserts?